A Clockwork Apple (Clockwork Apple)
Yusaku Shirakawa lives in small isolated town called Inatake, with a population of about 40,000 people and growing. One day, an odd occurrence after another happens. Only one newspaper is available in town, although all the trains that deliver them never came to town that day. Hurrying to work, Yusaku finds that there are no cars in the street when it's normally rush hour and only static on the radio. Once arriving at work, Yusaku's coworkers discuss the absents of their other colleagues. One of them brings up his trip to work, he drove south to the only exit and entrance to town and noted a road construction sign, explaining the lack of traffic, but before he left, he caught sight of a tank in the distance. Lunch comes around, Yusaku's female coworker, Miki collapses, feeling ill. Yusaku assists her and drives her home, clearly having a crush on her. Miki claims that the curry, specifically the rice, didn't taste right to her and that as soon as she had a bite, it made her feel sick and insists that the rice is poisoned, worrying the other workers will become ill as well. Yusaku teases her a bit, but decided to sneak a sample of the rice to his neighbor, a pharmacist, to exam. Later he decides to investigate the road construction, being told that the bridge was out. He discovers the bridge is perfectly fine, but a highway patrolman stops him from continuing and revokes his driver's license, but not before Yusaku sees tanks crossing the bridge. Returning home, his neighbor Inoue hurries in and telling Yusaku that they need to speak privately. He explains to Yasuku that after checking out the rice, he was shocked to find the rice covered in Puromycin, a type of antibiotic, but the amount he discovered could be deadly. He further explains that he checked his own personal rice, which he had recently bought and it also was covered in Puromycin. He warns Yusaku that large amounts of the drug can cause damage to memories and the brain in general. Yusaku explains their family only eats bread, so they are currently safe from the drug. He and Inoue agree to talk to the town's health committee and factory manager, respectfully. Inoue goes missing, but Yusaku continues to attempt warning his boss. Yusaku tries to convince his boss the severity of the situation and he feels he should investigate it personally, due to him not being affected by the drugs. Nothing comes of it and Yusaku returns home to find a man attempting to trade loaves of bread with Yusaku's wife, but he is quickly chased out, realizing their bread will no longer be safe and they are trap in their town. Later, seeing that he's being followed around town, Yusaku starts traveling into the mountains on foot, pondering if he venture out town to investigate what is truly going on outside of the town. Before traveling too far, he runs into a man who traveled from Osaka to visit his sick aunt and became lost. Yusaku offers to guide him back to town, but is stopped by the SDF (Special Defense Force) who escort the man to town. Leaving Yusaku behind, he notices a copy of the Asahi Newspaper that man was carrying and quickly reads it, seeing that the paper the town has been receiving it completely different, mentioning there hasn't been any communication from Inatake for several days. After this discovery, Yusaku is cornered by the SDF and brought into their headquarters. Their leader reveals that the town is part of a "rehearsal" for a plan they are developing, causing the townspeople to become listless and absentminded. He asks Yusaku if he has read Clockwork Orange, asking him to envision an orange that looks normal, but the inside is nothing but clockwork and compares this to the townsfolk, appearing normal, but functioning mindlessly like clockwork, calling them clockwork apples due to the town being known for their apples. He blackmails Yusaku with a doctored photograph of him and Miki sleeping together, explaining that this will all be over in just a few days and the town will return to normal. Yusaku reluctantly gives into their demands, is blindfolded and released in the outskirts of the town. Once he returns home, Yusaku is still determined to warn the outside world what is going on in their town, knowing that the group is planning something bigger. With the help of his wife Sachiko, they come up with a plan to use coal tar to write messages on fish from the local hatchery and tossing them into the river. After managing to sneak out undetected by the "SDF" in the middle of the night, they manage to toss 204 fish down the river before daybreak. Their plan manages to barely work, as the "SDF" heard a report of stolen fish and was unable to catch all of them. The "SDF" quickly gathers all the townspeople in the middle of a storm and uses them as hostages from the outside world. The leader of the group becomes overzealous, preparing to execute people from the top of a metal tower if their demands are not met. Before he can fire his guns, a bolt of lightning strikes the tower, killing him and several of people from his team. The town slowly returns to normal. Category:Clockwork Apple